I am in town for Coastguard duty and reached out to Dave the owner if it was possible to train. Without hesitation he welcomed me and I attended class which was easy to grasp and train with a great partner . Rounds at the end of the class allowed me to experience some amazing individuals that have great skills. Everyone was welcoming !! It’s a beautiful place train and and hard work put into creating it you can see as soon as you walk in. Defiantly reach out if you are in town to train !!It was a humbling experience and I am hoping to be back soon!! Thank you again!!

The cleanliness and professionalism of the gym and staff, the camaraderie Professor Stegman cultivates among students, and the time he invests in helping *everyone* (from day 1 white belts to seasoned black belts) learn and refine new techniques all make this a great place to train. Hard rounds. Good vibes. Highly recommended.

Excellent welcoming and professional atmosphere. Everyone is so nice, knowledgeable, and capable.

Welcoming, legit crew, amazing atmosphere, and appropriate music... drop in!

Great academy filled with hard working and friendly people who push each other every day to improve. Awesome atmosphere and a great place to train, with a lot of opportunity to spar with everyone and see a lot of different styles. The instruction here is on point, Dave really takes the time to train with you and help your jiu jitsu. Also, the mats are clean and the music is good 🤟

Seattle Jiu Jitsu is one of the best places to train in Seattle. Professor Stegman is passionate about the art, cares that his students improve and is a total professional. If you are brand new to jiu jitsu or need an experienced group to train with, you will find it here.

Dave is the best Professor. Great group of folks. Excellent place to learn effective BJJ.

Ive been training at SJJA for a couple months now and the entire time has been amazing and has quickly became the highlight of my day. Its one of those environments where every single training session is beneficial. The all levels classes are fantastic! I love how everyone trains together no matter the rank. If you want to roll with high level guys every day as a lower belt, you can! Youre encouraged to work hard, to compete(if you want), to show up as much as you can, and that is no better exemplified through the instructor David. His instruction is great and you can always find him on the mats. If you ever need help with any technique hes always physically there to help out in a very hands-on and engaged way, which is great.Training at SJJA has improved my jiu jitsu dramatically not to mention I gained a lot more friends! The atmosphere is pure jiu jitsu vibes! Hes built a pretty awesome crew, so if you want to join a great team of people I strongly recommend Seattle Jiu Jitsu Academy!

SJJA is unlike anything else! I walked in with no prior martial arts experience, no idea what to expect, and it immediately exceeded all of my expectations.You open the door to straight mat and a group of people just going at it. Which can be quite intimidating at first. But then Professor Stegman is there to welcome you and show you the ropes and throw you in to the crazy.Professor Stegman has years of experience, so much knowledge, and a lot of really rad (and unique) stories, He teaches differently (in the best way) than other gyms, and I cannot recommend him/his gym enough.Ive been going 3-4 nights a week for about a month now, and the community created at this gym is something Ive been missing. While I am one of a few very new white belts, all of the upper belts, and Professor, have continuously taken the time to teach and help develop my skills.Also, can we talk about rounds? SO MANY ROUNDS. If youre not dead by the end of class, youre not doing it right.I promise if you visit SJJA, you will not be disappointed.

From the first moment I walked into this dojo I knew it would be my new home. Everyone is super welcoming and the environment is super chill. If you’re looking for a high level Jiu jitsu gym, look no further than SJJA! 🤙🏽

Good environment, nice people, tough rolls, great training!

I always wanted to try BJJ, but I was quite intimidated. I reached out to the owner, Professor David Stegman. He was very helpful and accommodating, and even provided me with everything I needed to get started (a clean loaner gi).To be honest I was quite nervous on the first day. But the community is great. They were open, kind and helpful. Even showed me some basic moves that I saw in UFC. Now Ive picked up a new hobby. Overall getting started was fun and smooth. I would highly recommend reaching out, if your interested in BJJ.

I would say that Professor Stegmans Seattle Jiu jitsu Academy is everything I have ever wanted out of jiu-jitsu. Relaxed and friendly environment, no pain staking exhausting warm ups that make drilling difficult and dangerous, ample rounds of sparring, amazing sound track and supportive and kind student base. Its apparent from your first conversation with David that he has a life time of experience and a wealth of knowledge, hes very inviting, warm, and has a no nonsense approach to jiujitsu that speaks to me. I low key didnt want to leave a review or even tell anyone about how awesome his academy is for fear of giving up a secret hidden gem of Brazilian jiu jitsu. Prices are good, consistent black belts on the mat along with belts of every color that are honestly willing to help you along your way. 10/10 would recommend for anyone who has ever been interested in practicing bjj.

SJJA has a welcoming and supportive atmosphere, along with having great instruction. The space is always super clean and smells great! You can tell that they are committed to inclusion, fun, and the health and safety of their members (and visitors). I recommend this place to everyone I talk to who loves BJJ!

Seattle Jiu Jitsu Academy is an excellent place to train. I dropped in while on a work trip. The instructor and students are all very welcoming. The facility is clean, sharp, and has all the necessary amenities. We drilled a few solid techniques and rolled for over an hour. As the drop in guy I got my butt kicked, but it was fun. The vibe is very chill but everyone is there to train hard. I’ve been to quite a few BJJ gyms and put SJJA at the upper end for instruction, rolling, and facility. I highly recommend.

This review is based on my experience as a student of Professor Stegmans when he taught at Ballard Jujitsu. Stegman develops a group of favorite students who he prioritizes training over others. His favorites get more mat time instruction and more attention during live rolling. They are often promoted faster. At BJJ, Stegman promoted a white belt, with no background in martial arts, to blue within 6 months. Its easy to determine who his favorites are. If he likes you, hell spend minutes watching your form and critiquing. In my case, if he didnt like you, he would just walk past without even glancing. Stegman would only stop if I was rolling with one of his favorites. Also, during live rolling/open mat after class, he will not call on you if he doesnt like you. I trained at BJJ for 2 years and he called on me once (my first month there). After that, never again. Even if I did not have a partner to roll with, he would just get up and take a break or roll with another person for a second time. This was obvious for me and the others who he did not like.How to become a Stegman Favorite? These students are pulled from from the group of guys who want to compete. Take a look at his website, students who compete are shown the most on his pictures. He cares more about training students to compete than he does to love the sport. If you dont want to compete, then Stegman will still happily take your monthly dues, let you attend class and watch but he will not give you the special kind of attention he gives his favorites.Over the two years I trained at BJJ, it was clear who Stegman liked and didnt like.

I live in another city so I came in for a walk-in Monday evening class. The school has a great vibe. David, the teacher, has a lot of great stuff to say. I got plenty of rolls in. there was a good mix of junior and senior belts. great location to downtown. Id highly recommend it. just arrive early the first time because its hard to find.

I was a visitor/drop-in from Pennsylvania this evening and welcomed with open arms. There was a good mix of instruction and time to roll. The gym was clean and organized. There was a good blend of students at all levels. I highly recommend.

An incredible place to train. The instruction was top notch, learned details around my favorite submission that I can apply to my game immediately. The rolls were technical, and most importantly everyone was so welcoming. Felt like part of the group out of the gate. If youre in Seattle and youre not training here your missing out. Come train!!!

Superior in every way! I was amazed at the great instruction and solid work ethic here plus despite being warriors how gentle the men and woman rolling were and friendly. Great place to train.

While visiting Seattle, I had a coworker introduce me to this place, and it truly set the bar for my search for a school on the east coast. David and Evans philosophy for the school was refreshing and led to an incredibly educational, fun, and physically rewarding week of training.The location is spotless and has a great atmosphere paying homage to the art of jiu-jitsu. All in all, this place is everything I want in a school, and if you live in the area, you need to check it out. You wont be disappointed.

This is a great group to train with. Great instruction, and lots of roll time. Everyone has been so friendly and helpful. Also the space is beautiful and the mats are new and CLEAN! ⭐️

I dropped in to the academy to get some training in while visiting Seattle and they have a great crew there. Their instructor, David Stegman, was extremely welcoming and is great to roll with. His team was equally as nice and welcoming, as well. If you live in Seattle or you’re in town visiting and looking for a spot to get some rolls in make sure you stop by.

Recently had to be in Seattle for work. Arranged a drop-in prior to, and they were extremely inviting. The instruction was great, gym was clean, and competition was fierce. Had a blast and will absolutely go back.

Solid training in a welcoming environment. Good instruction. Plenty of rolls. No nonsense.

Canceled on me same day as lessons, planned a trip just to train. Waist of time and money

SJJA maintains a welcoming training environment for grapplers of all skill levels. I can’t recommend this school enough! The instructors are highly experienced and passionate about the sport. I travel a lot for work and can’t wait to be in Seattle again so I can get back on the mats with these guys.

Great place to train when traveling in Seattle. Professor Stegman runs a nice, clean and professional gym. Ill be back next time Im in Seattle.

Great place and great atmosphere for training, plus its very safe environment to practice Jiu Jitsu, professor David Stegman is highly skilled and very welcoming equally as his team in the academy, I would highly recommend this place if you live in Seattle or you are just visiting like in my case .

With world class instructors, a top notch facility and a friendly, welcoming atmosphere, SJJA is a must visit in your search for Jiu Jitsu in Seattle. Parking along 1st ave. just outside of the school is easy and pretty often wide open - making it easy to get to and from class. Cant say enough about my time here.

Youre not going to find better instruction or a more committed group of people to train with. Couldnt recommend SJJA more. Stop in and get some rounds on the mat.